Ignition system for explosion-engines.



y R. VARLEY. IGNITION SYSTEM FOR EXPLOSION ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1907.

899,770, Patented Sept. 29, 1908.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFnioE.

RIO-HARD YARLE-Y, OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO VARLEY DUPLEX MAGNET COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

IGNITION SYSTEM FOR EXPLOSION-ENGINES.

No. 899,770. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1908. Application filed November 8, 1907. Serial No. 201,191.

To all whom it may concern: which takes no particular part in the nor- Be it known that I, RICHARD VARLEY, :1 mal working of the apparatus. The other citizen of the l nited States, residing at terminal of the battery 2 is connected to the lfinglewood, in the county of Bergen and primary of coil 1, and through said coil is 5 State of New J ersey, have invented certain intermittentlygrounded to complete the cir new and useful Improvements in Ignition cnit by a system of arrangement embodying b'ystenis for Explosion-Engines, of which the principles of my invention.

the following is a full, clear, and exact de- The essential characteristic of this circuit l closing apparatus lies in the provision of a 10 My invention relates to the construction single constantly rotating shaft. carrying and arrangement or use of aform of cira plurality of circuit closing fingers, all 'cuit controller or timer for explosion engrounded on the shaft. and simultaneously gincs. and particularly systems in which a engaging segments or contact plates, one 'or trembler coil or coils are used. more of which can be connected iii a single 15 The principal object of the invention is circuit from the primary of coil 1. The co ito provide a thoroughly practical arrangef tinuously rotating shaft. which is ordinarily ment for varying the duration of the pri- ;the half-time shaftof the engine. is indiuiary circuit closure or. as it is commonly cated at 5, and carries a cylindrical block 6. called. the primary dwell. "with spring pressed plungers 7. movable 20 In all ignition systems the primary ciri i-adially outwardtherefrom. For convencult of the induction coil or coils must be .ience in construction. balance and arrangecompleted and broken at certain intervals of I ment. the plungers T project in equal anguthe engine rotation. It is necessary to have larly spared-apart relations from one an-' the momentof circuit closure varied with other about the cylindricalblock ('3. The dif- 25 relation to the engine stroke. and it is (le fcreiit plungers are, however. quite widely si able to have the length of duration of the out of the plane of one another. so that each circuit closure also variable. It is, of may project. entirely through the cylindrical course. absolutely necessary to have the cirblock 6. without interference from the rest. cuit closure and the circuit rupture made This arrangement in separate planes is also 30 with the highest conducting and insulating important in the functions of the apparatus. elliciency respectively. Obtaining these va- 8 designates the segments or contact plates rious functions in a simple practical niechdisposed within a cylindrical hollow insnlat anisni has proved very difiicult in practice, ing casing 9 and out of the plane of one annotwithstanding their apparent simplicity. other corresponding to the disposition of the 35 By the present invention I have devised plungers T. These contact. plates have iiia system and arrangement by which very clined faces 10. in the path of the plungers good practical results are obtained. and T. which are accordingly pressed inward in which is quite simple, both from the standpassing by an engagement so powerful as to point of the mechanical construction and get a very good electrical contact. The rel:

40 the electrical circuits. ative disposition of the varioussegnients or In the drawings: Figure 1 is a complete contact plates 8 tothe respective plungers diagrammatic view showing the circuits and is such that all make contact or initially arrangement of the parts; Fig. 2 is a seccomplete the circuit at precisely the same iiitional view of the circuit controller or timer; stant. but the contact plates are of difi'er- 45 Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing a cut sizes. so that the duration of-the circuit slight modification. closure or dwell. is different iii-the different Referring to the drawings in which like cases. The contact plate 8 is the smallest parts are designated by the same reference or shortest. and corresponds to a minimum sign. 1 indiates a .treniblci' induction coil circuit closure or primary dwell. Contactv 50 the secondary circuit of whicli'niay include platcfif is slightly longer. whereas contact the spark plug of an engine (or a plurality plate 8" is longest of all. and corresponds to of spark plugs if a distriliutcr is usedl. a maximum circuit closure or primary dwell.

2 designates the battery. having one tcr- 11. 1; 12. 12" designate contact studs of a ininal grounded at El. 4- being a circuit openswitch. with a pivoted slotted blade 13. long 511 ing switch which is normally closed, and enough to simultaneously make contact with all of the studs or any less number down to a point where it engages the stud 11 alone. Studs 12*, 12 and 12, are respectively connected to segments or contact plates 8*, 8 and 8 the stud 11 is connected with the stud 12 by a resistance R, and the switch blade 13 is connected to the primary of coil 1 by Wire 14:.

The operation is as follows: Supposing the arts are in the relation shown in Fig. 1, 1t is evident that the circuit of the battery is intermittently completed and opened through the primary of the coil -1 by the plunger 7 a which engages the segment or contact plate 8*. Under these circumstances, thesegments '8" and 8, with their plungers, are wholly out of action andthe operation is substantially identical with any ordinary circuit controller or timer. If the switch blade 13 is moved downward to anew position, the stud 12 is engaged thereby in addition to the stud 12*, by means of which both the segments or contact plates '8 and 8 are put equally and simultaneously into action. It is clear that a double circuit closing efiiciency is now obtained and the primary dwell is increased to the extent of the greater length of the segment or contact plate 8". In similar manner when the switch blade 13 is moved downward to its extreme position where it engages all-of its contact studs, the

segn'ient or contact plate 8 coiipera-tes inthe circuit in addition to and equally with the other segments or contact plates. The primary circuit closure is therefore made still longer in proportion to the extra length of the third segment or contact plate 8. Thus the primary circuit closureor dwell is varied, and the efliciency of the circuit closure is increased by each successive addition.

The above constitutes a practicaland operative arrangement, but in practice I prefer to make use of the additional contact 11 connected to the contact 12 by the resistance R, which can therefore be cut into the circuit by moving switch blade 13 to its uppermost position against the stop 15. This conditionis exceedingly economical of battery current, andisemployed on level roads at moderate speeds, or wherever the engine is found to ignite properly by its use. No difliculty is found in practice, because if the engine will operate satisfactorily with the switch blade in its uppermost position, corresponding to the shortest primary dwell and resistance in the circuit, this condition is, of course, maintained, but if the engine does not operate satisfactorily, which it may not do for a variety of reasons, then the switch blade 15 is moved successively downward to its other ositions, each of which gives increasingly etter ignition conditions, although at the expense of a greater battery current. The first movement cuts out the primary resistance, and the next movement cuts in addi;

eeemo tional circuit closin g devices in multiple with the one or ones already in circuit, thereby not only doubling or multiplying the efficiency of the circuit completion at the timer, but lengthening the duration as well. Under '70 any normal circumstances, proper ignition will be attained by one or another of the switch positions. If it is not so attained, it is a certain indication that there is a radical fault which must be corrected;

The relation of the initial circuit closure in the engine stroke is of course variable at all times in the ordinary way, which forms no part of my invention, that is, by shifting the entire casing 9 around the half-time shaft 5 as an axis. I have illustrated four different circuit conditions, three of which are brought about by segments or contact plates of different lengths. This arrangement can, of course, be simplified by reducing the number of segments with their attendant circuits. In Fig. 3 I have illustrated an arrangement in which there are only two segments or contact plates co6per-' ating with a pair of plungers 7 7 In this case the resistance R is also omitted, so that the switch 13 becomes simply afone-point or single contact switch 13 of the type ordinarily used to open and close a single circuit. In the drawings the parts corresponding to those of the already described modification are denominated by the same reference char-, acters, and need not be again particularly referred to.

'What I claim, is

1. In an ignition system having a primary circuit, a circuit controller-having a plurality of contacts of different angular extent and located in difiercnt transverse planes, a continuously rotating shaft having metallic plungers in different planes corresponding to said contacts and equi-angularly spaced apart, said plunger-s being spring-pressed radially outward and all grounded on said shaft, and aswitch for putting one or any number of said contacts simultaneously into said circuit, the initial engagement of said contacts and said plungers occurring simultaneously when more than one is in the circuit.

2. In an ignition system having a primary circuit, a circuit controller having a pair of contacts of different angular extent and located in different transverse planes, a continuously rotating shaft having metallic plungers in different planes corresponding to said contacts and diametrically opposite one another, said plungers being spring-pressed radially outward and grounded on said shaft, and a switch for putting one or both of said contacts simultaneously into said circuit, the initial engagement of said contacts and said .plungers occurring simultaneously when both are in circuit. 3. In an ignition system havlng a primary circuit, a circuit controller having a plurality of contacts of different angular extent located in difierent transverse planes, a continuously rotating shaft having metallic plungers in difierent planesporresponding to said contacts, said plungers being springpress'd radially outward and all grounded on'said shaft, and a switch for putting one or any number-of said contacts simultaneously into said, ,circuit, the initial engagement of said contacts and said plungers occurring simultaneously when more than one is in the circuit. I

4.- In an ignition system for explosion engines, a rotatable member having'a, plurality of contact arms in different planes of rotation, a plurality of contacts all of different angular extent from one another and all located in different planes corresponding to said contact arms, an induction coil having a primary circuit, and means for including one or any number of said contacts in multiple, in said primary circuit.

In witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD VARLEY.

Witnesses XVALDO M. CHAPIN, Jaarns DE ANTONIO. 

